MAPLE RIDGE, BC — Lorne Doerkson announced he will fight for BC forestry jobs with predictable access to fibre, faster permits, lower costs and support for forestry workers.

Forestry has always been essential to the economic and social fabric of British Columbia. It supports strong paycheques across the value chain, from loggers and truckers to mill workers, engineers and the local businesses that depend on them. For generations, forestry has built our towns, funded our schools and hospitals, and given young British Columbians a good career close to home.

But after nine years of the NDP, British Columbia’s forestry industry has been devastated. The industry shrank by 50 percent, even before Trump’s tariffs added insult to self-inflicted injury. More than 15,000 forestry jobs have been lost since 2022.

“Forestry built this province, and it still puts food on the table for families right across BC,” said Doerkson. “My Conservative government will fight for every forestry job and make sure BC forestry is here to stay for our children and our children’s children.”

A Conservative government will increase sustainable access to fibre with a harvest floor of 45 million cubic metres, compensating licensees and Bill 13 contractors fairly and on time where tenure is reallocated.

It will create a major-project-style permitting process so decisions take months, not years, with a single window giving First Nations one door for referrals and proponents one clock. Conservatives will also eliminate unnecessary permitting costs so BC mills can get back to work, and extend the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund.

The Conservative plan will also:

Invest in skills training to expand Indigenous participation in forestry.

Resolve the NDP’s old growth deferrals, protecting the rarest ecosystems and returning remaining land to the working forest

Create competitive tax conditions for value-added wood manufacturers

Bring back common-sense forest management to restore forest health and reduce wildfire risk

Launch a biomass and bioenergy strategy, starting with Clean Fuels Hubs in Prince George and Kamloops

Make softwood lumber a first-rank priority in every negotiation with the US

Put BC lumber first in government-funded housing and infrastructure

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Media Contact:
Alex Shiff, Director of Media Relations
media@conservativebc.ca